Once a premie, always a premie. This never goes away. It will follow you, effect you, your whole life. After you "graduate" the NICU there is: O.T., P.T., Speech therapy, physical medical rehabilitation, eye specialist, NICU follow ups, Nutritionist, your home visit nurse, urologist, surgeries and doctors appointments, IEPS, special education. But to get to this point Max had the fight of his life:

When I went into labor the neonatologist came into the room and explained all the possible complications that may arise from having a 26 weeker. They explained when he was born

there would be no cry from him, and that if the MD placed Max in my arms for a moment after they intubated him it was "a good sign".

Well when max was born the room was quiet, and the team of nurses and doctors worked in a rhythmic motion and all of a sudden came one loud, angry squeak. So startling that the room froze as everyone stopped and stared. as quickly as everyone froze they where back in motion working to make sure my little fighter stayed with us. after he was intubated he was placed in my arms for one moment then whisked away in his incubator to the nicu. As they pushed him past our family waiting to catch a glimpse, one snapped a

picture, Max swaddled in the many blankets managed to take one arm out and was holding it up in the air with a fist. As if he was showing us a sign of the fighter he is. And this is where Mad max came into play. In his first moments of life he had shown us great strength and fight, and for us that was a sign of hope for the battle that was to come.

as soon as max was stable we where able to go see him, not hold him, not touch him, see him. Soon the doctor come over and sat with us and explained to us that Max was not a 26 weeker but in fact a 24 weeker. 24 weeks 5 days, 2 lbs and 13 inches long. This news came with its own head to toe assessment of what could go wrong from being born at 24 weeks. Vastly different from 26 weeks. a huge weight placed on us as we realized how much those 2 weeks we thought we had where taken away and put us in a even harder place to be. As we sat watching Max fight in his incubator talking to each other, the nurses, the doctors. Everyone came to the same conclusion. Max is a fighter, he showed this from birth and with the help of the staff he will fight the biggest battle of his life in what we fondly named his "thunder dome".

For the better part of the next 3 months we watched max fight in the thunder dome. 3 cases of probable NEC, 4 blood transfusions, on the vent, off the vent, c-pap, nasal cannula, Iv's, central lines, lipids and tpn, antibiotics, x-rays, brain ultrasounds, labs. all words that became every day occurrence in our conversations.

Max has always shown us his personality. One day we found him pushed up against the door to the thunder dome. (trying to escape we figure), Then rolling over, getting all his wires messed up. This entitled him to bean bags to pin him down. Mind you this was about 4 weeks into his stay! pulling off wires was a specialty of his, making the nurses run to him to make sure he was ok when the alarms sounded. He was also amazingly good at peeing as soon as you took the diaper off. We had many good days with the bad days in the NICU, as you can see. things we can look back on and laugh a bit about.

From the start of his life Max has done things in his own way, Fought his battle in his terms. They tell us he wont make a sound when he is born- he makes the room freeze with a valiant cry, they say he needs the vent again- he pulls it right back out and is able to stay off of it, they say that he will just lay and relax in his thunder dome- he makes it across the thunder dome, flips around and has to be pined down. they say he will be going home on oxygen- he refuses to wear it on the last day and is able to go home with out it.

Max is now 8 years old, healthy as can be. slight delays in specific threads of specific areas, ADHD and on medication. He is happy, loving, and still a fighter. He continues to do things in his own way and in his own time. He knows he was born early, he looks at the pictures and gets teary eyed when talking about his battle. On his door to his room there is a picture of him taped up with the words written around it " welcome to the thunder dome" . The same one that hung on his home in the NICU

I want to thank my amazing NICU family that has been there for me threw the past 8 years. You see they do not stop loving your child when they leave and they are there to support you as your child grows. I am lucky to stay in touch with many staff of NICU threw a Facebook group I started where family's can reconnect with staff and other patients who where there at the same time. A place where we continue to support each other.

Without your encouragement, knowledge, passion, love. I would not have had the strength. Not only did they fight for my son to live the amazing team that took care of my son made me realize what I wanted to do with my life. They encouraged me to become and RN and I am proud to say that I am now!